


to hear your voice again

by thewolfsdoctor



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Post-Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, TARDIS phone calls, Tumblr Prompt, drabble-y
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 20:21:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9140785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewolfsdoctor/pseuds/thewolfsdoctor
Summary: The Doctor gets a call on the TARDIS phone. Of course, it’s not what he expects.





	

**Author's Note:**

> something short and bittersweet I whipped up, originally posted on tumblr. Inspired by a prompt "one missed call". First short fic uploaded here! Set post-Journey’s End, maybe around The Waters of Mars. No beta so all mistakes are mine.

It all starts with the TARDIS phone.

Really, he should have the old girl fix that. Should have been fixed already, he thinks to himself, subtly nudging the TARDIS presence in his mind. She ignores him, pushing his attention to the phone.

She wants him to answer? Well, there’s no point in letting it ring, is there?

He answers it, and almost lets the phone fall through his fingers. He can’t understand why the TARDIS would redirect the phone call to here and now, but he’s a little grateful that she did.

He hasn’t heard that voice in a long time.

“Doctor? Are you there? Hellooooo.”

He swallows. Takes a deep breath. Feels like a bloody teenage boy talking to the most popular girl in school. “Right, yes. Here I am!”

“You alright? Your voice sounds different. Have you finally gotten sick? I was right! Jack owes me five quid.” She continues rambling about just how right she was when he realizes this isn’t his Rose. She’s much younger, more naive and without a care in the world. She’s not the warrior as he saw her last, the one that has more scars in her mind than he could imagine.

He clears his throat, tries in vain to shift his accent to the one she fell in love with, and lets himself get sucked into the world that isn’t his anymore. “I’ll have you know, Rose Tyler, my superior biology makes me immune to your little human sicknesses… but I may be feeling a bit of a Superior Time Lord cold coming along.”

He remembers this day, when he returns to the TARDIS from his search for parts to a bowl of soup and blanket almost thrust into his hands as he was pushed towards his bedroom. He remembers her urgency to take care of him and his confusion as to why he was being coddled by a blur of pink and yellow. He remembers that warm feeling of being cared for, and the slight disappointment of part of it being a show of proof for Rose to get the five quid from Jack. He leans onto the TARDIS, almost banging his head in his daze, and lets the memory wash over him.

He could tell her everything, right now. He could tell her to hold on a little tighter, he could say what he was meant to say on that beach.

He almost does.

“Rose, listen to me. Very carefully. There are some things you need to know.” He can see the timelines muddling together and ripping apart as they are stretched and pulled taut against each other. Worlds were unraveling, the whole universe was tearing apart and he doesn’t even care.

Her voice brought him back. “What is it? Is something wrong? Doctor, you’re scaring me a little,” she says quietly yet with an urgency that would have brought him to his knees.

You’re scaring me.

He couldn’t do it.

“It’s nothing,” he mutters, “I just wanted you to know… aspirin would probably kill me, but soup would be nice. If you could make some for me, please?” His voice cracks, he disguises it as a cough.

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” He can tell she’s worried, he knows she heard the seriousness in his voice before. “If it’ll help you feel better. Just hurry back, then.”

“I’ll be home soon, yeah?”

“Alright, Doctor, see you later.”

He doesn’t have the heart to hang up until the line goes dead.


End file.
